1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to devices which are used to display collectable items such as autographed baseballs, gems, coins, medals and other collectable items. It is particularly directed to the purpose of preserving such items by including as a critical feature, the ability for a user to evacuate the display device itself. The devices of the present invention may be portable or may be permanently mounted. They may be smaller in size, e.g. to accommodate a diamond or a small coin, or may be larger in size, e.g., to accommodate collectables such as museum objects, rare bones or any other conceivable collectable item. The difference between the present invention and the aforesaid related parent application invention is that the present invention has a base without a lower member of a mount connected thereto. In other words, the present invention has a separate, collectable item mount attached directly to the base and the mount is a single piece instead of a permanently connected lower member and a removable upper member.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
Housings and display cases for collectable items have been in existence for hundreds of years. Clearly, the museums of Rome, Greece and Egypt have used wood and glass display cases for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years. Today, there exist very sophisticated and expensive, permanent encasements which are used by most museums and these include complex electronic sensors, lasers and/or protective gases, as well as other means for preserving the collectable items contained therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,777,233 to Alma E. Brandhorst describes a memorial unit comprising a rectangular plate, a pair of vertical L-shape rods connected with the oppositely disposed corners of the plate and extending downwardly, the end of one of the rods extending upwardly of the plate, a rectangular frame formed into L-shape arms and having lips extending inwardly of the frame, the arms being hingedly connected with the upwardly extending end of the one of the rods, whereby the frame is capable of being manually opened and closed, the other ends of the arms being bent at angles and having holes therein, and adapted to contact each other when the frame is in closed position, a padlock having its bar received in the holes to lock the frame in closed position when the pad-lock is in locked position, a rectangular base received between the arms in said frame and being supported by said plate and said lips extending over the base when said frame is in closed position to prevent said base being removed from the frame, and said base having a hole in its upper surface, a vertical tube in the hole and being fixed to the base and extending upwardly therefrom to receive stems of flowers, the walls of the hole in said base being threaded, a transparent globe having a lower open threaded end through which the stems and flowers extend upwardly into the globe, the threaded end of the globe capable of being screwed into the threads of the walls of the hole in the base, and an upwardly extending arm fixed to one of the arms of the frame and being curved inwardly of said base and extending over the top of said globe in close proximity thereto to prevent said globe being removed from said base when the support is in closed position, a receptacle containing the remaining ashes of a deceased person fixed to the rods, and an identification plate fixed to the inner surface of the globe.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,233,727 to Karl H. Wilson describes an object of the invention to provide a multiple use packaging container in which commodities can be kept sealed from the atmosphere under any desired pressure whether positive, negative or atmospheric for any length of time, and after the opening of the container the desired pressure condition can be restored thereby to contain and preserve any desired commodity or commodities having a container formed of material impervious to the flow of air therethrough and open at one end thereof, means for closing the open end of the container, the container having a cap having interlocking means integral therewith and sealing means associated therewith for interlocking and hermetically sealing the cap on the one end of the container, a valve body complementary in size and shape to the counterbored passage mounted snugly therein and extending in exposed relation to both sides of the cap member, split ring means at one side of the cap for securing the valve member in sealed seated position on the conical base of the counterbored passageU.S.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,110 to Alan C. Hager describes a protective case provided for tamper-proof, long term presentation and display of a collectible baseball. The case consists of a transparent dome, a baseplate that seals the dome, and a transparent disc that secures a documentation panel to the underside of the baseplate. The dome and baseplate are configured such that the baseball is held therebetween in an immobilized state. With the baseball in place, the dome and baseplate are bonded together, preferably by cohesive bonding techniques such as sonic welding.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,648 to Irwin Kremen describes a hermetic enclosure assembly, having utility for preservational storage and/or display of objects susceptible to degradation by exposure conditions such as ultraviolet radiation, visible light, oxygen, humidity, microbial, fungal, and insect species, internal acidity and external acidic gases, and the like. The enclosure assembly includes a gas-impervious housing, a mounting base, and a back cover plate, with an oxygen indicating means in communication with an interior volume of the enclosure assembly, and a slow vapor-released deacidification medium being arranged for dispersing deacidification medium vapor into the interior volume of the enclosure assembly. Also disclosed is an appertaining method of preservationally and protectively enclosing an object for storage and/or display. The invention has particular utility in the storage and/or display of cellulosic objects, which are especially susceptible to embrittlement and decay at low Ph conditions, in exposure to visible light, oxygen and moisture.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,892 to William H. Reams describes a holder to protect and display baseballs and other collectible items. It comprises a rigid transparent tube which contains the baseballs and through which they can be viewed, one end cap at each end of the transparent tube to retain the balls, a rigid backboard to which the end caps are attached for the purpose of holding the end caps in their fixed rigid position.
Notwithstanding the above, it is believed that there does not exist any collectable item display device utilizing the portability, simplicity and evacuation capabilities of the present invention devices which would render the present invention devices obvious or unpatentable.